This is a beautiful time of the year, made for celebrating and love and giving and desserts. I don’t normally like sweets, but I have a fondness for bread pudding. I have probably made fifty thousand industrial-sized pans of this treat over the years, in many variations. I still love it.

This cold snap makes me think of warm, delicious, lovingly made broths and stews. I love to make soup and I love to eat it. Today, I’m going to talk about soup and the wonderful soups that other people in Wichita make.

Finally, fall weather has set in and I’m getting excited about eating warm, savory, heart-warming food. Summer was fun, with tomatoes and basil, and all the beautiful produce, but now I’m ready for comfort food. Fragrant stews and braises, with buttery starches and warm salads are on the menu for this season.

The avocado is one of my favorite fruits. I first tasted one when I was little, in Florida, with my auntie. She had oranges, lemons, limes, and avocados in her yards. We could just pick them from the trees. We went out to gather a few of each, and she made me breakfast with what we had picked.

We live in an area that really loves beef, especially steak. If one is a beef eater, a good steak is the preferred choice, whether dining out, or when cooking at home. I recently took an informal poll on social media and (like the cheeseburger poll I did last time), received hundreds of excited responses.

The cheeseburger is an iconic American food. Take a big handful of flattened ground beef, a bun split in two, with salt and pepper. Cook the meat on a grill or in a frying pan or broil it. Melt some cheese on the meat as it finishes cooking. Toast the buns with butter or oil or not. Condiments and garnishes are up to you. Put the cheesy meat on the bun and dress it up, then devour. Seems simple, right?

Among other things, I am a professional food stylist. I have been doing this weird job for over 25 years.

What a food stylist does is make food look fantastic on camera or video. Yes, it is fakery. Yes, it is somewhat dishonest. Yes, it is great work if you can get it. It pays well and a stylist gets to use her knowledge of food preparation, her skills as an artist, and an understanding of photography. It is very challenging.